Kimo Akane, programming consultant for Cox Radio Hawai'i, which own's KRTR FM, the state's primary FM emergency radio station for O'ahu, said something needs to be done to create better communications for the public.

Because it has backup generators, the station was able to remain on the air Sunday despite the massive power outage.

But it lacked official information, Akane said.

"There was a major failure somewhere," he said of events Sunday."Either the state wasn't talking to the county or the county wasn't talking to the state.But at 8 a.m., everyone knew what had happened but no one officially was telling us what happened.We never got it from the state or city.You'd think that at least by 8 a.m. they would send something out telling us what was going on."

Akane said the governor's committee is a good idea, but "the problem is her people."

CALLS NOT RETURNED

Calls made to state Civil Defense were not returned until 11 a.m., he said.Calls made to the governor and lieutenant governor were not returned, he said.

And all that was made more frustrating by the fact that Akane could hear radio rival KSSK interviewing state officials.

"They have to activate the system and give everyone the same message," he said.

"Yes, we have been seeing more cover songs lately, but it's not more than in the past," says Kimo Akane, programming consultant for radio stations KCCN Hawaiian Radio (AM 1420, FM 100) and KINE FM 105.1. "In the past, local artists covered primarily local music.Everyone always wrote a few songs here and there, and then added other songs to fill the album.Today, there's more covers, but it's partly because of the mass appeal of pop and country music.It's good music, and local artists are doing it in their own style."

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"One reason for the amount of covers today, I think, is that in the '70s albums were released much less frequently," consultant Akane explains."Today it's different, the local music scene is so big.As a matter of fact, according to the last ratings period, which ended in summer, 26 percent of audiences listen to local music.With the advent of digital recording, it's very easy for virtually everyone to turn out a pretty decent product."Akane believes MP3 and Napster have something to do with the cover craze as well."People are not buying music as much, which is a concern of the labels.They not only just download directly.My kids tell me their friends sell compilation CDs to other kids - not for lots of money, but because they are just into the music; they want to share it.It's their version of creating art.And ultimately that's healthy for audiences and the music industry."What's not healthy, some argue, is a lack of appreciation for original artists.